Two men charged in connection with a 2012 double murder were living near the home where the killings took place in a housing facility for parolees that has come under scrutiny for allegedly operating without the proper zoning.

Jermaine L. Davis, 33, who now lives in the 1000 block of Rutledge Street, and Sancho G. Mitchell, 39, of Decatur were living at House of Rainbow on New Year’s Eve 2012 when they allegedly killed Larry Grice and Andrea Pocklington, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

House of Rainbow at the time operated five homes for parolees under contract with the department, four on North 10th Street and one on Enterprise Drive. The murders occurred in the 900 block of North Ninth Street.

The homes have been operating without the proper zoning for nearly a decade, city officials have said. The issue came to light after another House of Rainbow resident, Mark A. Brown, allegedly removed his electronic ankle monitor and murdered a homeless woman last summer in the same block of Ninth Street.

Owner David Kettelkamp attempted to change the zoning to bring the homes into compliance, but the city council rejected his request in January.

“I got out of prison. I learned. I moved on,” Davis told aldermen. “How many times can we do that, get out of a terrible situation, learn from that situation and really move on? There’s not too many times or situations we can do that, small or big.”

Immel said he had never met Davis before that night. The former resident offered to come speak after finding out about the zoning issue when he called Kettelkamp about some paperwork, Immel said.

Davis was released on parole to House of Rainbow on May 14, 2012, after being sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2002 for home invasion and armed robbery. He was arrested last month on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the Sangamon County state’s attorney’s office.

He had a prior conviction for aggravated battery, according to the Department of Corrections.

Mitchell was released on parole to House of Rainbow on Sept. 28, 2012, after serving a sentence for resisting or obstructing a police officer. He had prior convictions for attempted murder and home invasion.

Davis lived at House of Rainbow until March 2013, and Mitchell lived there until April, Corrections spokesman Tom Shaer said.

The pair is accused of killing Grice and Pocklington, both 24, about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 31, 2012, at Pocklington’s home at 924 N. Ninth St.

Authorities contend that Davis shot Grice in the back of the head, and that Mitchell stabbed Pocklington, who was pregnant, in the neck and abdomen. Both have been charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery.

Page 2 of 2 - Meanwhile, Kettelkamp is scheduled to appear in city administrative court at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday on the zoning issue. He was given a one-week continuance last week.

If the court finds Kettelkamp is operating in violation of the zoning ordinance, he will be ordered to cease operations but will have 35 days to appeal the decision in circuit court, city spokesman Nathan Mihelich said.

Immel said the murder allegations against three House of Rainbow residents have no bearing on the zoning issue before the city.

“I’ve got to deal with the current ordinance and an allegation that part of it has been violated,” he said. “Everything else is not going to be part of the evidence at this particular hearing.”

The city says Kettelkamp’s houses are in violation of the ordinance because they aren’t properly zoned to serve as transient residences or rehabilitation homes.

Immel argues that, based on city ordinances, neither of those categories apply to the properties.

He said the homes should be able to continue operating with their current zoning because their residents fit the ordinance’s definition of a family, which includes “a group of not more than five persons not all so related occupying a single dwelling unit which is not a boardinghouse or lodging house.” Each of the homes houses no more than five parolees at a time.